Trustees with the Canutillo Independent School District are calling on local state legislators to restructure the Texas Education Agency as a way to bring more transparency and accountability to the agency.

During the district's board meeting on Tuesday, trustees decided they would send letters to the legislators asking them to take steps to restructure the agency.

The letters are addressed to state Sen. José Rodríguez and state Reps. Joe Moody, Marisa Márquez, Naomi Gonzalez, Joe Pickett and Mary Gonzalez.

"We are just trying to have the state be transparent so that we can move our state forward," said Board President Armando Rodriguez. "We need to stop playing politics and need to think about what is right for the children attending our public schools in Texas."

The district is asking the legislators to:•Change the position of the Commissioner of Education from an appointed position to an elected one.

•Give the State Board of Education oversight over the commissioner of education.

•Shift the TEA internal audit function from reporting to the commissioner of education to the State Board of Education.

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•Require local school board members to undergo mandatory training on the proper use of the internal audit function.

According to the TEA, the commissioner of education is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. The internal auditor reports directly to the commissioner. If changes were made, they would have to be done by the state Legislature.

"If you have one individual overseeing the commissioner there could be special interests there," Rodriguez said. "If you have him reporting to the State Board of Education, you have a diverse groups of individuals that will question him about decisions made and make an issue of things to make sure there is transparency."

Rodriguez is arguing that TEA's current structure led to its failure to investigate EPISD when former state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh alleged that the district was "disappearing" students or failing them to prevent them from taking the state mandated test. In 2010, the agency cleared EPISD of any wrongdoing.

In 2012, Commissioner of Education Michael L. Williams called for an investigation into the agency.

In August, the state audit of the TEA reported that the agency relies on the districts to report and police themselves.

Márquez said the suggestions by the district were discussed in the recent legislative session.

"These are discussions that are already happening," Márquez said. "And we will continue to investigate some of those items, and we appreciate the letter and welcome the suggestions."